Great West Life Assurance Co. Can Trims Holdings in Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST)

Great West Life Assurance Co. Can lowered its stake in shares of Monster Beverage Co. (NASDAQ:MNST) by 9.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 646,051 shares of the company’s stock after selling 70,492 shares during the period. Great West Life Assurance Co. Can owned approximately 0.06% of Monster Beverage worth $37,295,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Scissortail Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Monster Beverage during the first quarter worth $596,970,000. Freedom Wealth Alliance LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Resurgent Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Monster Beverage during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Monster Beverage in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Marquette Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Monster Beverage during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.60% of the company’s stock.

Monster Beverage Stock Performance

MNST opened at $54.82 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $57.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.83. Monster Beverage Co. has a one year low of $47.13 and a one year high of $60.47. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $52.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.08.

Monster Beverage (NASDAQ:MNST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 2nd. The company reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $1.86 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Monster Beverage had a return on equity of 20.50% and a net margin of 22.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Monster Beverage Co. will post 1.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Monster Beverage announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, November 8th that allows the company to buyback $500.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on MNST shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Monster Beverage from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 11th. MKM Partners boosted their price target on shares of Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Monster Beverage from $63.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Monster Beverage from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 3rd. Finally, Cfra upgraded Monster Beverage from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.77.

Monster Beverage Profile

Monster Beverage Corporation, through its subsidiaries, engages in development, marketing, sale, and distribution of energy drink beverages and concentrates in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Finished Product, Concentrate, and Other. It offers carbonated non-carbonated energy drinks, ready-to-drink iced teas and juice drinks, lemonades, juice cocktails, single-serve juices and fruit beverages, ready-to-drink dairy and coffee drinks, energy drinks, sports drinks and single-serve still waters, and sodas that are considered natural, sparkling juices, and flavored sparkling beverages.